In a move to show that criminals are actually being brought to justice, Jim Gannon was interested to learn of a proposed crime mapping scheme, championed by Home Office minister Nick Herbert.
In a move to name and shame convicted criminals on neighbourhood crime maps it is hoped the proposals will also add a deterrent factor through the fear of public exposure. Nick Herbert’s plan is to persuade police forces to enhance their current internet crime maps, which show only the number of crimes committed in areas, or should I say reported crimes committed, which is a lot different to the former statement because we all know that thousands of crimes in the commercial world are investigated and dealt with by the private security industry and in the main go unreported to the police. Herbert now wants to add the names and photographs of criminals who get convicted.
He was quoted recently as saying that ‘we live in an age of accountability, yet justice is completely opaque. By prising open the system and revealing performance we will make agencies more accountable and drive better use of resources.’ He feels that both the public and the victims of crime are entitled to know what happens when crimes are committed and when people have the information, ‘it will allow them to question how our Justice system deals with offending’. In what must be described as a brave attempt to change the way things are, this move will be resisted by civil libertarians who persistently thwart any attempt by the system to infringe upon criminal’s human rights.
While the victim’s consent will have to be given in each case, the proposals include publishing the offender’s name, age and home town, with information about the crime committed, where they appeared at court and the length of any jail term imposed. The Ministry of Justice has previously issued guidelines stating that details of convicted offenders and their sentences could be published by the police for one month only but should not include photos to avoid what was described as ‘unjustifiably adverse effect’ on the offender. Exclusions included those offenders undergoing alcohol or drug rehabilitation as well as first time offenders.
Mapping USA
Crime mapping became popular in the USA especially in some of the big cities where’ Zero Tolerance’ schemes emerged and the hard line police tactics began to pay off. When the current internet crime mapping was launched by the police here in January 2011 (see www.police.uk) it was a massive hit and it allowed the public to type in a postcode to see a monthly record of crimes and antisocial behaviour recorded in any area. While it was meant to be another information tool I don’t think it was anticipated that it would be used quite so much by house hunters both in the residential and letting markets, in their decision where to buy or rent a property. The new proposals aim to try and make the criminal justice system far more transparent by tracking how local crime is being dealt with and ultimately if offenders are caught and convicted , what the end result is. The extension and new proposals for UK crime mapping is another significant element of the Coalition Government’s reforms to improve police accountability, with the introduction next year of elected commissioners, and the disbanding of the current police authorities.
Public engagement
On July 27 I with some 200 other people attended Leicester Constabulary HQ for an address by the Chief Constable Simon Cole, Paul Stock, Chief Executive of the Police Authority and the chairman of the Police Authority Barrie Roper in one of their public engagement events, titled ‘Policing the Future’. I concluded from that meeting that the general consensus from those attending was that they were in favour of a police authority in Leicestershire, rather than the appointment of a police commissioner. In a document handed out headed, ‘Ten things you need to know about your police authority’ it seemed to me to support a strong case in favour for force police authorities who hold the police to account. Having listened carefully to Simon Cole and Paul Stock give accounts of how they were going to achieve the 20 per cent enforced budget cut and savings over the next four years, with a two-thirds requirement by the end of 2012, it made one realise how drastic these cuts would have to be. Having learned from the chief constable that Leicestershire had not recruited any officers since 2009 and had lost over 200 during that time, I asked him what the business case was for releasing officers with over 30 years of service when they may only be in their early 50s. He said quite simply there wasn’t one, which was at least honest, although it had not been their policy to date.
Policing the future
Whilst we should never detract from future police efficiencies, and crime mapping is one way forward, it is difficult to grasp the concept of such significant cuts and quite how this will impact on the ‘thin blue line’ and the way they will in future be able to deal with the gangland culture and the crime being committed on our streets both now and in future. We have seen for ourselves evidence over recent weeks of unrivalled crime and violence spill over in some of our city streets and no doubt will have been shocked and appalled by some of the scenes broadcast, as well as some of the reasons for it, put forward by offenders interviewed by presenters on TV documentaries screened. The basic facts are however that more reliance will be heaped upon the private security industry as a whole to protect people, property and businesses, because quite simply government policy will not finance the police sufficiently to do it.
